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Despite being the fastest rider in the first day of practice today, the Assen TT proved again to be a disaster for the third year running for current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Mallorcan had dominated the morning dry session and had shown an impressive pace in the afternoon’s wet practice until a huge high side at the fastest corner of the track. The first diagnosis is a left clavicle fracture which will require surgery. As a result the title challenger will miss Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Team mate Valentino Rossi's confidence in the improved set up of the YZR-M1 after the recent Spanish test continued today with the Italian nine-time champion showing a competitive pace in both the morning dry session and afternoon wet practice. Rossi was fourth in the morning, 0.6 seconds from first in the dry, then rose to second in the afternoon downpour, just 0.25 seconds from front man Marc Marquez.

Valentino Rossi4th / 1'35.958 / 36 laps

“It's been a positive day for us because in the dry it was not so bad this morning, we continued to work with our new setting and the first impression was positive, although we still have to work to improve. We had something important to try this afternoon in the dry but unfortunately it was wet. Anyway we continued our work in the wet and it was a good practice, we did a good job with our new setting and the bike was also very good in the wet. I improved lap by lap; I had good pace and I was in second position. We have to continue to work in both conditions, everybody knows here in Assen it can be wet or dry. Unfortunately Jorge had a big crash and an injury. It's a great pity for Yamaha, for the Team and for him as he is fighting for the Championship. I hope that he comes back as soon as possible, hopefully for the next race in Sachsenring. I hope to do a good result because I am now the man of the team for Yamaha, for the Factory team and all the guys.”

Yamaha Factory Racing Massimo Meregalli Team Director“Unfortunately we didn't start the practice in Assen as we wanted. Jorge, after an incredible free practice one, had a crash in the wet in the afternoon and he broke his collarbone. This is a real pity as we were coming from two brilliant results and looking for a third. We have to accept this, it is part of our sport. We wish him the best to come back as soon as possible and stronger than before. Vale did two good practices, it seems the feeling he was looking for in the front is back. Fortunately we had the opportunity to test in Barcelona and in Aragon to find it. Let’s see tomorrow what we can do. Here it is very difficult to predict the weather forecast but we are ready whatever the circumstances.”

Dr. Xavier Mir Chief of Hand Surgery at the Dexeus Hospital (Barcelona) and MotoGP Team Medical Doctor“Jorge has a high inertia trauma but results are normal from initial neurological examination. We will move to Assen to make head and chest scans and also an abdominal exploration. Our first diagnosis revealed that there is a left clavicle fracture with a slight shift that will need surgery to repair the bone. This injury is in the background while we rule out any other major injury that may become apparent within 24 hours. These kind of impacts at more than 200 km/h need some time for the body to recover to be able to discard any other major injuries. In principle tomorrow he can travel and within 48 hours he will be operable.”

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Mixed conditions on day one in Assen for Pedrosa and Marquez

The Dutch TT has begun under mixed conditions today in Assen. This morning's FP1 session was a chilly 14ºC with a low track temperature of 17ºC and both Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez set to work on soft front and soft rear Bridgestone tyres. On his last exit, Marc tested a hard front to asses the difference and on his final lap of 19, he put in his fastest lap of the session with 1'35.883, placing him third in the standings. Dani remained on the soft option tyres for the whole session and was fifth fastest with 1'36.034 on lap 13 of 19.

In the afternoon, with temperatures similar to the morning, the riders had a new element to deal with as rain arrived for the entire session. Marc took the fastest time with 1'47.617 on his final lap of 18 and Dani was third with 1'48.240 on his last lap of 17.

Marc Marquez 3rd 1'35.883"I'm happy because today went pretty well. From the beginning I felt good on the bike, both in the dry and wet conditions. Obviously there are still things to improve, especially in the dry, but overall I felt very comfortable and we’ll see if tomorrow the weather holds out for us, although the forecast is not too good. I hope for at least one dry practice in order to try to improve the setup, so fingers crossed we can have that tomorrow. As for the injury suffered by Jorge, he has been very unlucky. I think it's only the second crash that he has had this year, and it’s resulted in injury – which you never wish on any rider. I hope he makes a speedy recovery; I’m sure that in Germany he will be ready for battle again"

Dani Pedrosa 5th 1'36.034"In today's sessions we rode on both dry and wet asphalt. In the dry the feeling was a lot more difficult than usual. With such a cold track it's difficult to get grip in the tyres and you skid a lot when cornering, so we could not ride comfortably. We'll see if it's possible to improve the bike with regards to this over the next few sessions if we have dry conditions again. In the rain we improved a little and we were able to try some things out. The downside of today was the injury to Jorge. It's a shame that he crashed and that it turned out so badly for him. As a rider, I know that now is a difficult time for him, so hopefully he can get through these days as best he can, as things like this are very painful"

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo suffered a tragic change in fortunes on the first day of action at Assen, as the reigning champion clocked the quickest time of the day before sadly breaking his left collarbone in a crash during a wet Free Practice Two.

In a day of contrasting weather conditions, Lorenzo quickly established himself as the pacesetter by setting a time of 1'35.263 on softer option slicks front and rear in FP1, finishing the session 0.350 seconds clear of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow. Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez – who was quickest in the wet FP2 session this afternoon - was third overall on the first day of practice, with a personal best lap time of 1’35.883. Aleix Espargaro exploited the grip of the CRT-only soft compound rear slick to pilot his Power Electronics Aspar ART machine to P6 and lap within just 1.167 seconds of Lorenzo’s benchmark time.

Weather conditions were cool today, with track temperatures in both the dry FP1 and wet FP2 session barely reaching the 20°C mark. The cool asphalt put a premium on good warm-up performance and grip levels, so softer rubber compounds for the slick and wet tyres were preferred by riders today. The softer rear slick options were used exclusively in FP1, although both the extra-soft and soft front slick options were used. The main wet tyre for Assen is the soft compound option and in FP2 no riders elected to try the alternative hard compound wet tyre on the cold and soaking track surface. Although no riders were able to improve upon their FP1 lap times in the wet second free practice, with further rain expected this weekend the session provided valuable setup data for the teams.

Cool conditions with a possibility of rain are forecast for tomorrow, the next session on the programme for the MotoGP riders being FP3 at 0955 local time (GMT +2) tomorrow.

“Today’s changing weather allowed riders to work on their dry and wet setups and the cool track made conditions in both sessions a bit tricky. In the morning session all riders started on the soft option slicks front and rear, but after their first stint some riders felt comfortable enough to also try the harder front slick. Both of our front slicks this weekend are towards the softer end of our allocation, so the warm-up performance and grip of both options are well suited to these cool conditions. Grip levels from the track were reported to be adequate and now that we have had rain, I believe the grip level will not be any better tomorrow. Finally, I am very sorry to hear that Jorge has broken his collarbone, everyone at Bridgestone Motorsport wishes him a full and speedy recovery and we hope to the see the MotoGP champion back on his bike very soon.”

More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Crutchlow fast in wet and dry conditions in Assen

Preparations for the unique Dutch TT started in contrasting weather conditions at the historic Assen track today, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow demonstrating a fast and competitive pace in dry and wet practice sessions.The British rider made a confident start to the seventh round of the 2013 campaign in cool and overcast conditions this morning and a lap of 1.35.613 placed him second on the leaderboard behind reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Crutchlow was the only rider to lap within 0.5s of Lorenzo’s blistering FP1 pace and he was optimistic he could have challenged for the top three again this afternoon.

Torrential rain started to hammor down on the Assen track, which hosts the only Saturday race on the MotoGP schedule, just 15 minutes before the start of FP2. Crutchlow started the session supremely confident of his potential in the rain after he raced to a career best second position on a wet track at Le Mans last month.

His confidence was well placed and he led the timesheets in the final stages of the session but rather than take unnecessary risks he opted to pull into the pits and was not out on track when a host of riders improved their pace right at the end. He eventually finished seventh.

Today was a positive experience for Bradley Smith, the British rider producing another impressive display just 10 days after he underwent double surgery on his left hand and wrist in Barcelona.

The 22-year-old had a screw inserted in the scaphoid bone in his left wrist that he damaged in a crash during practice for the recent Mugello round and while the operation was a success, he is still experiencing pain and discomfort in the hard braking zones at Assen.

Smith was immediately fast on his YZR-M1 machine in FP1 though and a personal best lap of 1.37.002 placed him 10th and just over a second outside of the top three.With FP2 a rain-soaked affair and with further wet weather forecast for tomorrow, Smith’s outstanding effort to finish in the top 10 this morning could have earned him a deserved place in tomorrow afternoon’s QP2.

Cal Crutchlow 2nd 1.35.613 – 38 laps:“I am really happy with today. I was second in the dry this morning although I need to improve my pace in the first sector because the gap to Lorenzo in that section was pretty big. The gap of everybody else was pretty big to be fair and Jorge was doing an amazing job. It’s a huge shame that he got injured in FP2 and I wish him a speedy recovery because the Championship is not the same with him not in it. In the rain this afternoon I was very comfortable and I am one of the fastest on track. Before the end of the session I didn’t want to take any risks so I came into the pits and lost a few places. Had I stayed out I am sure I could have been in the top three again but I am happy enough with my performance in both conditions.”

Bradley Smith 10th 1.37.002 – 31 laps:“This morning was very positive being in the top 10. I was determined to try and get in the top 10 in case the rain continues and it means I am immediately into QP2 and that’s very good. I don’t feel too bad physically at the moment but my wrist is still hurting quite a lot and I need to see if I can reduce the pain, especially in the braking area. I had a good pace in the wet and I got behind Valentino for three laps and that helped and he didn't really pull away. I only did 11-laps in the rain because it wasn’t worth taking too many risks and I didn’t want to stress the wrist too much.”

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

The weather conditions that welcomed the 24 riders of the MotoGP World Championship to the Assen TT circuit were very different from those at the last GP, in Spain.

The first free practice session took place in low temperatures—15° C air and 33° C asphalt (59° F and 63° F, respectively)—and the mercury dropped further during the second session, which was also marked by a heavy rain.

It was a day of learning for Andrea Iannone, who concluded with a result that wasn’t particularly satisfactory. Still, he was able to begin the setup work that will continue tomorrow, when he hopes for better weather conditions.

Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team"It 's been a difficult day. We weren’t very fast this morning. At first I focused on the track, in order to understand how to approach it aboard a MotoGP bike, and we’re still working to get faster. This afternoon in the rain, I immediately had a hard time, but then we made some small changes that helped me to improve my lap time a bit. Unfortunately, the session finished before I could do much more. In any case, we still have tomorrow’s entire FP3 session to use to see if we can be faster and more effective."

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

The weather conditions that welcomed the 24 riders of the MotoGP World Championship to the Assen TT circuit were very different from those at the last GP, in Spain.

The first free practice session took place in low temperatures—15° C air and 33° C asphalt (59° F and 63° F, respectively)—and the mercury dropped further during the second session, which was also marked by a heavy rain.

The Ignite Pramac Racing Team rider enjoyed a progressive improvement in lap times in the morning, ending the first free practice in ninth place. In the wet afternoon session, his 1:49.730 time put him in 13th position.

Michele Pirro – Ignite Pramac Racing Team“I'm satisfied because we did better in dry conditions compared to Barcelona. The feeling with the bike was definitely different, and I felt pretty good. In the wet, however, I wasn’t really comfortable, and I was trying really hard. We took the all information possible from both the dry and wet, and now we’re ready for any conditions. We didn’t make too many changes between the two sessions, in order to maintain a base for the race, even though the weather was completely different. We’ll see what awaits us tomorrow and we’ll try to use the data collected as best as we can.”

More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing:

Abraham holds thirteenth position after first day in Assen

Karel Abraham initiated the Grand Prix of Assen with great combined thirteenth position. The fastest time drove 1:37,346 the rider of Cardion AB Motoracing in afternoon’s free practice on dry track. On the afternoon’s schedule left a mark a heavy rain. At the end of the forty minutes free practice 2 Abraham crashed while he was taking his fastest lap of the practice. Rider has no injuries, but uncontrolled bike hit a barrier along the track and is damaged.

Karel Abraham:„The first free practice was success and we were getting faster gradually. Problems that we had, we were able to manage during the break and we were ready for the afternoon. Shortly before the second free practice started to rain, therefore we had to start from scratch. At the end of the free practice the track got a little bit drier and my tyre was getting warm. In the combination with too much strong breaking effect that was the mistake and I crashed. I feel fine, but unfortunately the bike didn’t fall but drove to the barrier. Mechanics will have a long night to get the bike together, frame we will pass on Aprilia for sure to check it if is not broken.“

Marco Grana, šéfmechanik Cardion AB Motoracing„I can say that today was positive regardless of the crash in the afternoon. We know why it happened and it is the most important. In the morning Karel drove a great practice and the bike suited to him. We were able to be close to Espargaro and the same we repeated in second practice on wet track. The crash was caused by too much strong breaking effect. The crash happened when we were on eighteenth position and we were close to Dovizioso and Rossi. It is a great result thus we can think about a good result that we missed in Barcelona due to a technical problem.“

More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:

Excellent first day at the Cathedra for Corti

The seventh round of the season kicks off at TT Assen with unstable weather conditions, having the NGM Mobile Forward Racing riders Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti adapt their FTR – Kawasaki setting from dry to wet conditions on the same day.

The American rider has struggled during the afternoon session in wet conditions and has yet to find the right feeling with the bike. On the other hand his Italian teammate found the feeling right away, leading the timesheets during FP2 for a few minutes.

Having had the chance to rider in both dry and wet conditions both riders look forward to an afternoon of data analyzing in order to be better prepared for either conditions for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

Colin Edwards

“This morning I had a couple of inconsistent spin-ups that almost spit me and I just don’t know why. Some laps the electronics work and then the next laps it will want to spit you to the moon, so I’m trying to needle the data and figure that out. This afternoon in the rain I went out and had no feeling with the bike, felt like riding a knife-edge. We came in, softened it up and it felt better. I felt like I was chasing the front so we really dropped the rear a lot to get the balance right, went out and it started to come a little bit better there at the end. I had this feeling like I just couldn’t get anything to settle down or anything to plant into the corner and we got a big chatter under brakes. We came in, looked at the front tire and it was pretty bad, seemed a little out of shape. Electronics wise we are just trying to chase it.”

Claudio Corti

“This morning we went out and used the setting that we had in Barcelona and struggled a lot, lost a lot of time and didn’t get in many laps. This afternoon we had the same problem, didn’t get many laps in because at the beginning of the session we had a problem with the gearing and had to do a couple of laps to really understand what was going on. I struggled to find the pace but lap after lap I was getting faster. The track was wet and when it started to dry a few riders crashed, I went into the pits to keep working on the bike and we saw where I could improve and realized that I need to keep working on both T1 and T4. Overall in wet conditions we have done well today, if tomorrow we have to work in dry conditions we will have to work a little more. We will go over the data and decide what to do during tomorrow’s morning free practice.”

Sergio Verbena, MotoGP Technical Director

“ We had a dry morning session and both riders seemed to be doing ok. Both riders are slow on one of the sectors of the track. We thought we had identified the reason why that was and wanted to have confirmation of it during the afternoon session. Unfortunately fifteen minutes before the beginning of FP2 it started to rain and we had to start working all over again on the setting. Claudio has done a great job during the second session, at some point he was leading the timesheets, proving he has a good feeling with the bike. Colin didn’t find a good feeling yet; we now have to understand why that is. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see what weather conditions there will be and we will see what we can do. Our goal is to improve the results we had at Barcelona, that is our main focus.”

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:

MIXED CONDITIONS WELCOME PREMIER CLASS RIDERS AT ASSEN ON DAY ONE

Assen, 27 June: the Dutch track provided dry conditions this morning for the first day of free practices but the second free session was affected by some rain in the beginning with Yamaha rider Lorenzo suffering a high-speed accident and the fracture of his left collarbone. LCR Honda racer Stefan Bradl placed his RCV in 7th place in the morning dry session testing new front suspension parts, whilst the German impressed in the wet posting the 4th quickest lap time (1’48.594).

Stefan Bradl

“Actually it was a first good day for us because in the dry this morning we gradually adapted to new front suspension parts and it took us some laps to get the proper feeling. We ran both machines and probably we lost a bit of track time but in the end we have done a good job in the dry. Then our focus in the wet was just to try to improve lap by lap because in the beginning the track was very slippery. In the last part of the session the conditions improved and I could do acceptable laps. We are not far from the top guys in the wet but we just miss something to be faster in the dry”.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Challenging first day at Assen TT

The first day of on-track action at the Assen TT featured a dry morning free-practice session and a rainy afternoon session. Both presented challenges for the Ducati Team, but as is often the case, Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden fared better in the wet.

Both riders struggled to find grip in chilly FP1, finishing with the eleventh and twelfth best times. Things also proved difficult in the early going of the afternoon outing, but adjustments resulted in improved rain settings by the end of the 45-minute session, at which point the teammates sat tied at fifth-best with identical times of 1:48.682.

However, the faster morning conditions mean that Dovizioso and Hayden were still eleventh and twelfth best on combined times after FP2. The Ducati Team hopes for good conditions tomorrow morning so that they’ll have an opportunity to move into the top ten and thereby advance directly to Q2.

Andrea Dovizioso - Ducati Team, 11th (1:37.041)“We did okay in the wet this afternoon, as we know that our bike has good rear grip in these conditions. In the dry session this morning however we struggled a bit, and we’re still some way off the fastest guys. I made a small mistake in a corner during a fast lap, but that’s not important, as our pace in the wet is good. I’ve learned from experience to never wish for rain, as something bad can always happen in those conditions, but it was tough this morning. I don’t know if we’ll be able to reduce the gap in the dry, so at this point I prefer the wet! In the end, although the track’s grip isn’t bad, the white lines are slipperier than at other circuits, and a couple of times, I risked having a crash like Lorenzo’s.”

Nicky Hayden - Ducati Team, 12th (1:37.153)“It’s been a very difficult day, especially this morning. I don’t know if it’s due to the tyre, but I really had no grip, particularly on corner entry. The bike was moving a lot, and it was hard to go fast. Even in the rain this afternoon, it was hard to get any feeling. I certainly need to do a better job tomorrow, and hopefully we can find something to make the bike work better. The forecast says it might not be dry again until race day, so it’s going to be really interesting. We’ll just keep plugging away and see what we can do.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications:

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was both the fastest and unluckiest man on the first day of practice at the Iveco TT Assen, as he set the pace in the early dry session, before breaking his collarbone in the wet afternoon practice.

The World Champion’s day was brought to an abrupt end when he suffered a high-speed accident and broke his left collarbone in the rain-affected afternoon session. Lorenzo registered a best lap time of 1’53.263 in the morning period, leading the way from Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez in what would prove to be the only all-dry MotoGP™ session of the day. Marquez would go on to top the second session, but was 14 seconds off Lorenzo’s earlier best as the forecast showers finally struck the historic Dutch venue.

The crash for Lorenzo came at the rapid Hoge Heide section running up to Ramshoek, which precedes the Geert Timmer chicane at the end of the lap. The Mallorcan was taken to the circuit’s medical centre and provided with painkillers, having been caught out by standing water before landing heavily on his left shoulder. The fractured collarbone was confirmed less than ten minutes after the session ended. He will now remain under observation in a Dutch hospital where a CT scan will be carried out, and his situation further assessed.

Wet form was tough to gauge in the afternoon as the track was drying at a rapid pace in the final few minutes, with the likes of Crutchlow sitting out the final bit in a bid to avoid any potential crashes. It did however propel some lesser-known names into the top ten, with Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci, as well as PBM’s Yonny Hernandez and Michael Laverty finishing from eighth upwards.

Moto2™

Tuenti HP 40’s Pol Espargaro set the pace in the first day of Moto2™ practice at the Iveco TT Assen ahead of Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding and Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter.

Espargaro’s best effort came in the form of 1’38.988 in the morning session, which is when all the top-ten times were set, as the afternoon was affected by rain. Redding was just over a tenth of a second down, finishing ahead of Aegerter, who continues to be a consistently quick performer on his Kalex.

Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco did well to put his Suter in fourth place, with Desguaces La Torre Maptaq’s Xavier Simeon rediscovering some form in fifth just behind. Rounding out the top ten behind them were Marc VDS’ Mika Kallio, Pons’ Esteve Rabat, QMMF Racing’s Anthony West, Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami, as well as Aegerter’s teammate Randy Krummenacher.

In the wet conditions in the afternoon it was NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Mattia Pasini, Kallio and Zarco that led the way. Caught out by either the greasy surface or slippery white lines in the afternoon, crashes came for eight riders including 2010 class champion Toni Elias on his Blusens Avintia machine. Staying out of trouble was wildcard Gino Rea, as the Englishman makes his second wildcard appearance of the season with his privately entered outfit.

Moto3™

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom set a new fastest Moto3™ lap for the Iveco TT Assen on day one of free practice, which saw the class escape the predicted rain until the final few minutes of the afternoon session.

The Mallorcan rider led Team Calvo’s Maverick Viñales and Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger with his record time of 1’43.511. This was half a second quicker than his closest title rival Viñales as, behind Folger, the top five was completed by Estrella Galicia 0,0 pairing Alex Rins and Alex Marquez.

All fast times were set in the afternoon practice, during which at the end the seemingly inevitable cloudburst caught out a number of riders, not least CIP Moto3’s Juanfran Guevara who highsided at Stekkenwal corner (Turn 8). Dutch wildcard riders Bryan Schouten and Thomas van Leeuwen ended the day in 19th and 31st places.